In the rush to pass the so-called “healthcare reform bill,” U.S. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) stomped his feet and held his breath until he extracted his presents from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. One such gift exempts Nebraska from paying the $45 million increase in Medicaid imbursement costs. Nelson was the 60th Democrat to get his stocking stuffed.

Smart parents know not to give in to spoiled children trying these shenanigans. If we gave kids everything they demanded, our family budget would be as busted as last year’s toy under the couch. You know, the one with batteries that are only made in China.

Each of us will soon pay for the Senate’s extravagant spending. In Senator Nelson’s case, his Nebraska voters will be exempted from the substantial cost increases generated by new Medicare patients mandated by this plan. Wisconsin taxpayers will foot the bill not only for the additional costs for Wisconsinites, but for Nebraskans, too.

Senator Reid is like the parents that give their screaming kids everything they ask for. Here is what the Wall Street Journal reported:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Mr. Nelson didn’t get special treatment. “I worked with every Democratic senator” to make changes to the bill,” Mr. Reid said. “Ben Nelson was just like the rest of them.”

The majority leader added, “If you read the bill … you’ll find a number of states are treated differently from other states. That’s what legislation’s all about: compromise.”

So giving a present to every one of the 60 Senate Democrats is the way that healthcare funding decisions are being handled in Washington. It is not the way that we did true healthcare reform in Wisconsin; at least not when I was in charge.

In 2002, I led the Speaker’s Taskforce for Local Government Healthcare Partnerships. We used a business model to address runaway healthcare costs to state and local government. We held a dozen hearings around the State, listening to the people as they identified the reasons for cost spikes. With the help of private-sector talent, we crafted and passed the Competitive Prescription Drug Purchasing Pool, which saved $25 million for non-represented state employees alone, in the first year. We recommended the use of Internet transparency for healthcare cost bidding, as well as a quality control system of standards where communities can view provider ratings online.

This approach put free market mechanisms in place to ensure a level playing field for health care competition. Contrast this pork-free plan with the U.S. Senate Christmas-tree bill, and you can see that government can, and must, do better.

So I have a simple solution for all sensible voters this Holiday season. Think about the permissive parents you see that give in to their spoiled children. Compare them to the incumbent politicians in your district and state. Vote out every one of them that can’t say no to more spending. In these economic hard times, that is the only way for our family budgets – and our nation — to survive.

We need to stop giving a “Tickle Me Nelson” to every U.S. Senator.

Terri McCormick is the author of the book “What Sex is a Republican?” She was a Wisconsin State Representative from 2001-2007, and Chaired the House Economic Development committee and Chaired the House subcommittee on Healthcare Cost Reform from 2002-2007. She is a Republican candidate in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District. www.themccormickstandard.com

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The politicization of education has too often acted as a barrier to the science and art of educating all students to their potential. President Obama has most recently referred to the politicization of education as unnecessary ‘culture wars.’ Obama uses public and independent charter schools as examples of education reform. Proposals of merit pay and world class standards are currently being discussed in the Obama education.

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Neuhaus has been long established as a resource for educators interested in reaching all children with proven literacy methods. Literacy takes on a holistic approach empowering students with the skills of; listening, speaking, reading, writing and thinking strategically. Pronunciation of letters, syllables, words and statements is used as a foundation for higher order thinking and writing.

Corruption, Scandals, imprisonment and finger-pointing … have framed the American economic and political landscape for the past four years. The result has been an economic collapse and an imploding ‘political class’ scrambling for the delete button on mismanaged television messages and talking points.

To the disdain of party bosses, this debate is a mounting tug of war between those that would cling to the ‘pay for play’ politics of greed, and those that would return America to the Constitutional Republic of the people.
The power of the internet and emerging social technology has made it possible for the public to self educate and lead in business and government as they never have before. George Lucas recently said this in regard to the opportunity of new technologies, “Americans are now using media to communicate with each other instead of sitting passively watching their life go by.”

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Traditional views of American and Global Citizenship is quickly fading just as quickly as the ‘political class’ control over political candidates and politicians. Further, media spin and control of message through traditional multi-media sources has been derailed due to 21st century interactive technologies. A call to arms in an intellectual war of words calls on the “New We” – as a New American Revolution is now underway.

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Latest Book Reviews

Admittedly, I was more than a bit skeptical of What Sex is a Republican? before I began reading it.

Books trafficking anywhere near the topic of gender tend to leave me queasy – mainly because they are so seldom done well. Most books taking up the issue of gender and society fall into either the the ‘angry-at-men feminists,’ or the ‘barefooted-pregnant-wife traditionalists.’

Given that the book runs in the neighborhood of 320 pages, I was pleased that Ms. McCormick’s book fell into neither stereotype. In fact, the coup de maître of What Sex Is a Republican? is that it had little to do with the sexes at all, and much more to do with the ‘Republicans.’